6 Main Tips On How to enjoy healthy Holidays
So, you have a big list of issues right now if you’re aiming to work on a staying lean or getting learner with your body in this next month:
It’s winter - less active - less accountable (no beaches)
Holiday dinners - drinking - appetizers
Holiday food is damn tasty
It’s rude to not eat the food!
It’s a stressful time - so many things to buy, prepare and events to attend!
Days feel shorter - less daylight - can affect energy levels and mood
Not just 1 dinner - it’s many dinners AND leftovers
The awkward time between Christmas and new year’s - ‘Y the F’ not zone
We kind of feel inclined to relax more - dieting is stressful
So, I want to give you some major tips on how to enjoy the holidays still feel healthy and you can be going toward your goals
1) Planning for metabolism recovery
So, this is a boring and unappealing of calorie counting but this is a real major thing. If you’re trying to lose weight and you’ve been in a calorie deficit, and you go into a holiday dinner – you will be HUNGRY – Not just hungry –but HUNGRY.
I would predict this scenario because I’ve done it dozens of times. 2 different ways you’ll go about this:
- You simply say, “I earned this” and gorge on everything
- You say, “I’ll just have a bit” and then a ravenous binge sets in, and you don’t know what came over you
Both situations can be prevented partly by coming out of your calorie deficit 2-3 days prior – This is to help your metabolic rate settle, you will have a far greater chance of being satisfied by the food you eat, and possibly know better if you’ve had enough.
Your goal should be to be at a maintenance for 4-5 days – 2-3 days before – One during and One after – then go back to your routine. But don’t think this is easy – it will take a lot of will power to have just the right amount of fun.
2) Accountability/Support
Whatever your intention is for the holidays, communicate this to a partner or a friend. What this can do is make you feel more inclined to resist the extra. I’m not saying not to enjoy some of the food! I’m recommending you go in with a plan of how much you want to enjoy and then tell someone. Now it’s like a promise you’ve declared to someone else – and they can do it with you or at very least support you!
When we’re in the routine of trying to improve our body composition we will feel alone, so when we want to give up no one cares. But if you give yourself an external source of accountability you will feel like you’re not in it alone.
So, when you see that extra cookie, you mind says “why not?” you can say “because I promised my partner I wouldn’t.”
3) Day of the Event Planning
This is basically having some plan for how you should be eating around the day of the event and during the event. The simplest thing is Protein Leveraging.
Protein is the more satisfying macro-nutrient and can help slow down appetite so effectively. But at the same time, we want to give some room for calories in the evening while making most of the day not much different.
This is my formula (it may work for everyone)
- Eat your first meal later in the day (around noon) but don’t fast the whole day
- Make that first meal 50% of what your daily calories would be for a maintenance
- Eat 50-60% of those calories as protein
You could also break that into 2 meals – but again this is my style and routinely do intermittent fasting.
- Driving to the event or just before, try to drink a protein shake with 30-50 grams of protein
- Appetizers
· Eat mainly veggies as you can
· Watch sauces, breading, and cheese – limit these to 1-2 servings because of calorie density
- During dinner
· 30-40% of your plate should be a lean protein and eat it first
· Eat a very large salad or veggie serving
4) Focus on Food experience – Not Food Filling
Now this is all about ensuring we DO ENJOY OUR FOOD! But we can intend on a bit but then end up way too much very quickly because we don’t want to track calories– which I’m not advocating during the dinner either.
I encourage you to think “Did I get to experience all the foods I wanted to.” It’s not asking yourself if you got enough. This is a hard mindset to shift. Our instinct is telling is “EAT EAT EAT! We only get this food during Christmas!” But the truth is – you can have any food you want any time of the year. It’s a perception of scarcity when we actually have abundance.
Eat mindfully with those foods – recognize the texture – the flavor and really immerse yourself in the feeling of what that food has to offer that you normally don’t get with your routine diet.
5) Learn to Let Go - Maybe More Later?
Make a point of trying anything you wanted. Goal is to have enough you got to enjoy the taste but NOT to stuff yourself. So, filling up on as many whole foods offered will help (e.g. salads, veggies, fruits and meat).
The odds are you’ve probably had enough food, and at this point you’re kinda almost full BUT you’re still feeling the craving….
You want a second round.
There are a couple major points on this
- Stop looking at the food! I can’t tell you how much this made a difference. Look at the people talking. Focus on being around your loved ones and being a part of the conversation.
- Give yourself a deal – “if I’m still hungry tonight I’ll have a snack then.” For me this is planning a delicious flavorful protein smoothie with chocolate protein powder and berries. This can pull me out of this mental trance that food grips us with. Odds are you will feel completely satisfied in 1-2 hours after the dinner and won’t want any more food any ways!
6) Training Volume
Look the odds are very likely you’d end up in a surplus (too many) calories, even if your goal should be a maintenance – if you don’t track it’s super likely. So, if you make sure you do strength training and HIGHER volume than normal (more sets and reps), this can actually yield a benefit!
When you’re in a surplus of calories it’s the easiest time to gain muscle – this may be a very small and not super significant, but it certainly makes the dinner serve a better purpose than if you didn’t!
Super busy? Can’t get to the gym? 500 Body weight challenge.
During the day you have an event aim to do 500 of anything body weight
- Speed squats
- Push ups
- Lunges
- Crunches
Anything that will stimulate your body to feel the need to grow muscle instead of fat is a good thing and it works! You can integrate this while you clean your house for guests! Body doesn’t care that much if you do it with in 60 minutes or 5 hours – just needs to feeling of muscle fatigue to stimulate growth.
There are so many other factors to consider so I highly suggest you check out my podcast next week as I’ll dive into this topic with even more details to consider (environment, trigger foods, stress levels etc.)
Regardless of what you do, I hope you take in this experience with tons of gratitude. Every time I get together with my family now it is so much more significant because we had it stripped away this past year. Maybe use that mindset to be more present with the people and not the food.
And I truly hope you and your loved ones have a safe and happy holiday!